Media Digest 2/18/2010 Reuters, WSJ, NYTimes, FT, Bloomberg

Reuters:   US regulators are looking at steering problems on the Toyota (TM) Corolla.

Reuters:   Greece says it is not seeking EU taxpayers’ money.

Reuters:   Gold fell on an IMF sale.

Reuters:   US state pension funds face a $1 trillion shortfall, according to Pew.

WSJ:   Extremely small nuclear reactors may help the US with a new source of energy.

WSJ:   American manufacturers are ramping up hiring.

WSJ:   The SEC is at odds with NY State Attorney General Cuomo over details of the firing of Bank of America’s (BAC) general counsel.

WSJ:   Net income at Hewlett-Packard (NYSE:HPQ) rose on strong hardware demand.

WSJ:   Silicon Valley got 8% of the 167,350 utility patents filed last year.

WSJ:   HP and Dell (DELL) are developing rivals to Apple’s (AAPL) iPad.

WSJ:   Fed minutes show increased confidence in the economy.

WSJ:   Some lawmakers are defending Toyota because of fear of job losses.

WSJ:   Barnes & Noble (BKS) will not let raider Burkle raise his stake in the company.

WSJ:   A Russian pipeline is causing national oil powers in the Middle East to revise pricing for Asia.

WSJ:   Wal-Mart’s (WMT) earnings will show if it benefited from price cuts.

WSJ:   More cities are considering Chapter 9 filings which has caused alarm about municipal debt.

NYT:   The Administration and Senate are near a deal to create a panel to oversee systematic risks in the financial world.

NYT:   Telecom companies are making smaller changes to products after years of revolutionary advances.

NYT:   The head of Spain says an economic recovery is near in his nation.

NYT:   Many cellular carriers still block the use of Skype

NYT:   A study shows a new virus has infected computers at 2,500 companies.

NYT:   Eight states have not paid up their pensions in full.

NYT:   Apple’s (AAPL) prices on e-books may be lower than expected.

NYT:   Live streaming of the Winter Olympics have dropped since the Beijing games.

FT:   AIG (AIG) will keep up to $500 billion in derivatives it had planned to sell.

Bloomberg:   SEC negotiations with Bank of America may give investors more say over bank governance.

Douglas A McIntyre